Unexpected Intersections

A poem about pandemics, and friendship, on this Poetry Friday. I awake to a world constrained by autumn fog that limits how far I can see. Train and bus carry me through the fog through the neighboring villages through the city towards my friend — but at each stop along the way the wider world remains hidden  behind a grey curtain. In the time before face masks and lockdowns,  we greeted each other each week with three kisses on the cheek. We drank tea, we talked, we wrote new words, we shopped at the farmer’s market together. Together   now,  for the first time in months we do not greet with three kisses but we drink tea and talk, and as we do, sun burns through fog, reveals mountain and city, pushes the boundaries of the world back out again to where they used to be. © 2021, Elisabeth Norton, All Rights Reserved Poetry Friday is being hosted by Laura Purdie Salas. You can find all the poetry goodness here .

My recent poem " What the Marmot Kno ws " was still rolling around in my head a couple of weeks ago when we were out on a Sunday afternoon bike ride. As I watched one yellow leaf drift slowly along the river, a sure sign that fall is coming, I started thinking about "What September Knows." Yesterday on our lunchtime walk, the squirrels were very busy, shaking hazelnuts down from the tree and running to hide them. And today, the path was dotted with crimson leaves. So I decided to finish off the poem that I started on that Sunday afternoon.  Our wonderful host for Poetry Friday today is Denise Krebs over at Dare to Care .  Inspired by another Poetry Friday poet, she wrote an "In A Word" poem. You can discover who inspired her, which creature she wrote about, and all the other poetry goodness awaiting you here . And Poetry Friday's own Laura Purdie Salas will be presenting a webinar next week (Wednesday, 22nd September) on the topic of Work For Hire: W

History is a timeline of events, each event a dot too small to express the millions of experiences of a given day week month year of a given war earthquake flood famine drought tragedy Each dot on a timeline is a period, a pause that says “Stop! This is something you should know about.” The timeline pulls us inexorably forward, the dots behind us growing smaller as we look back over our shoulders. Some merge with the line, too small to stop anyone in their tracks anymore, the stories around that dot lost to time. But some dots are not diminished with time. Some dots will always make us pause to remember. ©2021, Elisabeth Norton, all rights reserved Our Poetry Friday host is Tricia over at The Miss Rumphious Effect. Hop over to her blog for all of today's poetic inspiration. I'd also like to highlight a wonderful poem 9/11/02 or One Year Later , written by my friend Jennifer in honor of some of the first responders to 9/11. 

 Some days the warmth of summer lingers, but the nights are getting cooler -- a sure sign of fall. Another sign is red apples and a ladder in the orchard. Our wonderful host for Poetry Friday is Heidi Mordhurst. Check out her juicy little universe for all the other wonderful poems that await you today!